


From Seoul With Love

by hyunbiased



Category: Super Junior-M
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-28
Updated: 2014-03-28
Packaged: 2018-01-17 07:19:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1378747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyunbiased/pseuds/hyunbiased
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zhou Mi's childhood obsession with James Bond led to a successful career as a spy for Korea's Intelligence Agency. But when he gets a special assignment, not all is what it appears to be</p>
            </blockquote>





	From Seoul With Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mialienes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mialienes/gifts).



> I hope this was what you wanted!

Zhou Mi’s mother had no idea the course of events she put into motion when she sat her high-energy 6-year-old son down in front of a video of Dr. No while she cooked dinner. 

Let’s just say that something about Sean Connery inspired in Zhou Mi both a childhood crush and a lifelong hero.

Now, 21 years later, Zhou Mi stepped off the plane at Incheon International Airport in South Korea. Although he worked for an agency of the Korean government, he was active almost exclusively in China. He actually hadn’t been to Korea in over 2 years. The sharp consonants of the Korean language settled themselves back into his brain as he retrieved his bag and moved towards his pickup location.

He walked down the deserted corridor, peering at his phone to see the extremely vague instructions he had received that morning. The two lines of terse text instructing him to come to Korea on the first flight hardly provided much insight, but Zhou Mi’s thought swirled at the possible reason.

A hand landing on his shoulder jolted him from his thoughts. He had special permission to carry weapons on flights as an employee of the Korean government, and a second later his Walther PPK 7.65mm semi-automatic revolver pressed to the temple of the man behind him. The only problem was the cool metal he could feel on his own cheek.

Seconds later both guns were holstered and Zhou Mi was hugging his closest friend in the Agency, Henry.

“Sorry, I thought you heard me coming up behind you!” Henry apologised sheepishly.

“I should have. Good job on improving your stealth skills!” Zhou Mi congratulated. He hadn’t seen Henry in almost a year, since the younger had been transferred semi-permanently to Korea. “Do you know why I’m here?”

“Only some rumours,” Henry shrugged. “Something about a special assignment. So don’t worry, you’re not getting reprimanded.”

Zhou Mi’s brow furrowed. “Why would they want me to do an assignment in Korea? I have no experience here.”

“Beats me ge, but I’m sure you’ll find out the second I get you to HQ.”

\-------------------------------------------------

Henry’s prediction proved true and Zhou Mi was whisked off to a boardroom the moment he stepped into the SM Agency Headquarters.  
He quickly stood and bowed as Director Kim, head of the entire organisation, walked in alone save for the two female bodyguards who were his perpetual companions. 

“Yes, yes, sit,” the Director grumbled. Zhou Mi banged his knee on the table as he sat but he managed to keep any sound from escaping by biting his tongue. 

“You’ve been summoned here to solve a very difficult problem for us,” the Director stated. “Does the English letter ‘Q’ hold any significance for you?”

“...No?” Zhou Mi replied after a moment, deciding not to mention the Q Branch of the MI-6 from James Bond. 

“Good,” the Director huffed. “Over the past 6 months SM Agency has been pestered by someone or some group calling themselves ‘Q’. They’ve been consistently sabotaging our missions, tipping off targets, compromising hideouts, and the like. Basically we look like a chicken running around without a head right now.”

“That’s bad news,” Zhou Mi ventured when the Director paused for breath. “But I don’t see how this has anything to do with me?”

“I’m getting to that,” Director Kim snapped. “Anyway, this ‘Q’ is very secretive. We’ve only been able to identify one associate and we only see him when he wants to be seen. Now, we’ve sent 4 agents to investigate before.” He placed 4 photographs on the table, saying the name with each one. “Kim Jaejoong, Park Yoochun, Kim Junsu, Han Geng. None of them are agents anymore.”

“Were they injured? Killed?” Zhou Mi gasped.

“No. All 4 times we sent out an agent, within a month we received a message basically saying ‘I quit’, followed by them completely disappearing off the map. Worse, the known associate has implied, and events support, that there is at least one person within SM affiliated with ‘Q’.”

“I still don’t see where I come in.”

“Can’t you keep your mouth shut? Anyway, as a Chinese operative who has never worked in Korea you are ideal for this assignment. You have no significant connections here that can be exploited if Q is using blackmail. Besides, your mission record in China is practically flawless.”

“Thank you,” Zhou Mi demured. At the Director’s glare he quickly added “What are my available resources?”

“You’ll be working closely with the agents in charge of tracking the known associate and monitoring online for ‘Q’. You’ll also have access to our weapons and technical specialists, I believe you’ve worked with them before?”

“Yes, Director,” Zhou Mi replied, suppressing a broad smile. “I’ll do my best.”

“Very well, you start immediately. I expect you will take care of this quickly so we can actually get some work done around here for a change.”

\-----------------------------------------------------

Zhou Mi found Agent Kim Ryeowook, SM’s resident weapons specialist, hunched over a bowl of frighteningly unappetizing orange soup in the cafeteria. 

His friendly greeting was met by an assault rifle, assembled in the blink of an eye, pointed at his forehead.

“Agent Kim, it’s Agent Zhou. Remember from the mission in Guangzhou with the white rabbit candy, slow loris, and the Consul General?”

A second later the rifle had disappeared to some indiscernible location on Ryeowook’s body and Zhou Mi was receiving a warm hug from the diminutive agent.

“I heard you were coming,” Ryeowook greeted. “But not why.”

“I have an assignment here in Korea, I’m supposed to find Q.”

Ryeowook’s eyes widened. “Be careful! Anyway, have you seen Agent Lee yet?”

“Not yet, I just got out of my briefing with the Director. I’ll visit him later, but I should find the agents working on the investigation.”

Ryeowook cast a derisive glance at his uneaten soup and declared “I’ll take you to them. Did you want to meet the agent following the associate or the agent investigating online first?”

“Let’s stick with the classics,” Zhou Mi answered after a moment.

“Agent Choi it is. You’re lucky, he’s not in the field at the moment!” Ryeowook confided as they walked down the narrow hallway.

\----------------------------------------------------

Ryeowook introduced Zhou Mi to a wide-eyed, very tall boy named Choi Minho who seemed entirely too young and innocent for this line of work. However, the second they were alone in the small office, Minho fixed Zhou Mi with a scrutinising stare.

“So you’re the new plan,” Minho said. “I suppose they have a reason to think you won’t turn out like the others?”

“No connections here,” Zhou Mi replied with a slight toss of his head. “If you’re here who’s watching the associate?”

Minho stared at him for a moment longer before turning his chair back to a monitor on the wall displaying what could have been any coffee shop in Seoul. “Agent Jung is currently recording his movements. I’m just here to brief you before I go back out.”

“So let’s get to it then!”

Minho turned and blinked at his enthusiasm. “The associate’s name is Lee Jonghyun. His file is on the desk.” Minho paused long enough for Zhou Mi to pick up and open the distressingly thin manila folder. “As you can see we have almost no information on him even though we’ve been tracking him for over 4 months.”

“How is that even possible?”

“We suspect that Q has removed him from official records. Also, he is very much aware that we are watching him. The second he doesn’t want to be seen, we won’t be able to find him. We only know that he is in some way associated with Q, but we don’t know if he even actually works for them or how high up he is.”

“Director Kim mentioned that Lee Jonghyun said there was maybe a plant within the Agency?” Zhou Mi clarified.

“Lee Jonghyun told the Director that in person, in his office even, before escaping. At this point, it is rather obvious that his role is to distract us. To keep us busy and feed us the information that Q wants us to know. But we’ll still keep following him because he’s by far the strongest lead we’ve got.”

“Do you have logs of significant encounters?” Zhou Mi requested. “I could use some new reading material.”

Minho gave a brief smile, and said “I’ve already arranged for copies to be at your apartment tonight.”

\------------------------------------------------------------

Agent Shim Changmin was even taller than Minho, although he had a much less innocent air about him. 

He also spent the first 20 minutes of their meeting interrogating Zhou Mi about his past experience. When Zhou Mi finally managed to bring the conversation back to Q, Changmin got a bit defensive. 

“Whoever is running Q’s computers is a genius on a whole new level,” Changmin confessed. “I’ve only managed to get information from the emails they’ve sent us directly. Heck, that’s the only reason we have a name for them, because that’s how the emails are signed!”

“So were you able to get the locations that the emails were sent from? How many have there been?”

“3. The first two were sent 43 days ago 6 minutes apart. Thing is, one was sent from 684 miles outside of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The other was sent from the middle of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”

“So are there at least two people involved, based on the locations of the messages,” Zhou Mi speculated.

“Actually we know that both messages were written by the same person because of an uncommon spelling error that appeared in both messages as well as similar grammatical patterns. While the messages could have been drafted ahead of time, we think it is more likely that we haven’t cracked the true locations of the senders.”

“Where was the third email sent from?” Zhou Mi asked.

“Here, 22 days ago. In the middle of the lobby to be precise. We’ve checked the footage from the cameras and with the people who walked through the area. No one sent a message from there. That makes our idea about the other two being the same person more likely.”

“Right. What was in the messages?”

Changmin handed Zhou Mi a single piece of paper with three short messages on it. “The first two were about an incident when Q prevented the removal of a Korean ambassador, and the third was regarding the compromise of a cell in Japan leading to the arrest of 4 agents by the Japanese government.”

Changmin promised to keep Zhou Mi informed of any developments, and Zhou Mi headed to his apartment to unpack and get started on reading the logs.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------

For the next two weeks, Zhou Mi mainly accompanied Minho or Jessica on their observations of Lee Jonghyun, occasionally consulting with Changmin or Sungmin.

“Why don’t we detain and interrogate him?” Zhou Mi demanded on the third day of watching Jonghyun run errands. “And who even eats doiji gukbap this much?”

“We’ve tried 8 times now. He’s always gotten out within an hour,” Minho answered, eyes never leaving the little restaurant.

When Zhou Mi wasn’t observing the every mundane move of Lee Jonghyun, he would pore over past records. When he decided to take a break before his brains ran out his ears, he would watch a movie. With Sungmin, Ryeowook, Victoria, and Henry all on active assignment, they had no time to socialise so Zhou Mi would sit alone at his apartment every night.

He also had many meetings with Director Kim, and got yelled at for his lack of progress.

As the days went on, Zhou Mi also felt himself settling into Korea. Maekju instead of pijiu. Mandu instead of jiaozi. And no matter what Ryeowook and Sungmin claimed, jjajangmyeon was not exactly like zhajiangman.

\--------------------------------------------------------

On his 21st day in Korea, Zhou Mi was once again reading Jonghyun’s old activity logs, straining to sense a pattern somewhere. His concentration was broken by the vibration of his phone against his thigh, the only sound in the empty apartment.

“Hello?”

“Agent Zhou, I’ve just received another message from Q. I’m on my way over now,” Changmin said slightly breathlessly and hung up before Zhou Mi could respond.

Less than 30 seconds later, there was rapid knocking on his door. Zhou Mi pulled it open and found a slightly flushed and panting Changmin clutching a large computer bag. He was only illuminated from the light in the apartment because the hall light above Zhou Mi’s door burned out that morning.

Zhou Mi stepped aside and asked, “Where did it come from?”

“Not sure yet,” Changmin replied, brushing a stack of logs off the coffee table to make room for his laptops. Zhou Mi twitched slightly at the cascade of papers.

Another knock sounded from the door, causing both of them to jump.

“Oh, he’s here already,” Changmin sighed. “Could you open that, I called in for help.”

Zhou Mi glanced through the peephole only to be met by darkness from the burned-out light. He opened the door to see the slight smile of Lee Jonghyun.

Zhou Mi had his gun trained on the man a second later, but Jonghyun didn’t seem too worried.

“Agent Shim, Lee Jonghyun is here,” Zhou Mi called back into the apartment, not taking his eyes off Jonghyun for even a second.

He heard hurried footsteps come up behind him and opened his mouth to say something when a rough cloth smelling of chloroform was clamped over his face. In his distraction, Jonghyun swiftly disarmed him with a high kick.

Zhou Mi worked up the consciousness to frown very deeply at Changmin and Jonghyun before collapsing.

\---------------------------------------------------

Zhou Mi came to instantly and became aware of two things instantly: his mouth was as dry as the Gobi Desert, and he was very thoroughly tied to a chair.

He subtly tested his restraints as he looked around the dark room. It looked like a normal apartment, albeit with all the lights off and the curtains closed. Only some slight light filtered through. He tensed when he heard fabric rustle straight ahead of him.

“Agent Zhou, I’ve been expecting you,” a smooth voice issued from the shadows. “Isn’t that what I’m supposed to say?”

“Who are you? Why have you taken me?” Zhou Mi demanded.

“Ah, ah, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” the voice chided. “You might want to close your eyes for a moment, I’m going to turn on the lights now and you don’t want the brightness to overwhelm you.”

Zhou Mi struggled with his bonds and didn’t follow the suggestion. A moment later lights were on and he slammed his eyes shut in pain.

“I did warn you, “ the voice said almost sadly. Zhou Mi heard a faint clinking sound as he forced his eyes back open. 

Behind a counter in the kitchen area stood a man Zhou Mi estimated to be a few years younger than himself. His fluff of hair was slightly mussed and he wore a wrinkled t-shirt with a Starcraft logo. His open expression held no hint of malice that Zhou Mi could see.

“Would you care for a Vesper?” the boy asked.

“What?” Zhou Mi asked, baffled.

“A dry martini, 3 measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, and half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shaken, not stirred, until ice cold, and garnished with a twist of lemon. Now the question is whether you’re a purist and want it in a deep champagne goblet as per Fleming’s instructions, or do you favour Daniel Craig’s cocktail glass?” The boy mused as he leaned forward slightly to rest his forearms on the counter.

Zhou Mi was speechless. 

“I have tried to be as accurate as possible,” the boy continued after a moment, evidently taking Zhou Mi’s silence as doubt. “I have 94-proof Gordon’s gin and a 100-proof grain-based vodka. I did have to take some liberties since Kina Lillet is no longer available, so would you prefer Lillet Blanc or Cocchi Americano as a substitute?”

“Are you crazy?” Zhou Mi questioned. “And who are you?”

“I said not to get ahead of ourselves. And I was offering you a Vesper, the classic drink of James Bond. Do you want one?”

“No, I don’t! I want you to let me out and tell me who you are!”

“I guess I’ll just have to drink it all by myself then. I prefer the cocktail glass, and the Lillet Blanc with a pinch of quinine powder, by the way. As to your question, I am Q,” the boy lightly stated, pausing to give a slight bow as he mixed his martini.

“You’re Q?” Zhou Mi spluttered. “You don’t even look old enough to be drinking that!”

“No need to sound so incredulous,” the boy sniffed and walked around from behind the counter. Zhou Mi idly observed that he was wearing flannel pajama pants and striped socks.

“I blew Changmin’s cover to talk with you. I hope you feel very special, I didn’t talk to any of the others. I just fed them information so they could figure things out on their own.”

“The other agents sent after you? Then why are you talking to me?”

“Unlike your four predecessors, you caught my attention. I admit, at first I was skeptical but Changmin and my other associates at SM could only say good things about you. Then I found out how you requested a Walther PPK as your weapon and I just had to meet you in person.” Q explained as he stood in front of Zhou Mi and took a sip of his drink. “Tell me, who was your first?”

“What?” Zhou Mi asked again, losing the direction of conversation.

“Lazenby? Moore? Dalton? As late as Brosnan or Craig? Or were you lured in by the unmatchable Connery?”

“You’re still talking about James Bond?!”

“Of course, it’s been so long since I met another fan.”

“What makes you think I am one?” Zhou Mi demanded.

“Aside from your adamant choice in weapons, you’ve watched 4 Bond films since you arrived in Korea, and the observation that you chose to be a spy when your disposition is much more suited to a job like a celebrity or perhaps a personal assistant.”

“You’ve been watching me,” Zhou Mi realised. “And what would you know about my disposition?”

“Of course I’ve been watching you, I watch everyone,” Q said with wide-eyed innocence. “As for your disposition, you don’t hide it very well. You’re very cheery, although you try to tone it down while working. You’re very eager-to-please and affectionate with your friends. You have a really nice smile, you should do it more.”

“Why should I smile for people who kidnap me?”

“I am very sorry; I don’t normally do things like this,” Q apologised. He noticed when Zhou Mi shifted his shoulders slightly. “I see you’ve just about freed yourself now. You’re even better than I expected! I feel terrible for knocking you out twice in one day, but, you see,I don’t have much choice.”

As Zhou Mi pulled his hands out of the ropes, he knew he was a fraction of a second too late to prevent the cloth from reaching his face and darkness overtook him once again.

\------------------------------------------------------

Zhou Mi jolted awake again to be greeted with the distinctly unpleasant view of the scowling Director Kim. 

“So you’re finally awake. You were passed out in the parking garage.”

“Sir, I saw Q, he talked to me!” Zhou Mi rasped and then coughed slightly to clear his throat.

“Well, what does he look like?” the Director demanded, nearly yanking Zhou Mi off the narrow SM medical center bed.

“Male, Korean, early 20s. Seoul accent but my ear isn’t good enough to tell if it was native or not. Dark brown hair, but I’m not sure if it was natural or dyed. Probably between 175 and 180 centimeters. Eyes black, and close-ish together. His build is on the slim side, but he’s got some softness. I don’t think he was very physically fit. His skin was a bit spotty, but he has an attractive face. I’d be able to pick him out of a crowd.”

“How did he manage to take out you and Agent Shim?”

“Sir, Agent Shim was working for him,” Zhou Mi revealed and explained what had happened.

“So that’s why we haven’t had any results in the virtual search,” the Director cursed. “I’ll put 2 new agents on it right away.”

“Sir, Q appeared to be a James Bond fanboy. He implied that his interest in me resulted from me being a fan as well.”

“You’re saying our mission success rate has plummeted because of a delusional fanboy?!” the Director shouted before visibly calming himself. “But this is good, he likes you. He might slip up if he tries to contact you again. Report any developments immediately.”

Zhou Mi pouted at essentially being told to use himself as bait. This was not what he trained all those years for. “Yes sir.”

\--------------------------------------------------

Zhou Mi awoke the next morning to the Casino Royale theme song blaring in his ear. He fumbled for his phone and was already wide awake by the time he answered the call.

“Agent Zhou, we’ve managed to get some information!” Agent Song exclaimed in Chinese. He faintly heard Agent Lee complaining in the background.

“What sort of information?” Zhou Mi demanded.

“Some details on Q’s next plans!” Agent Song responded. “The Director wants you to come in right away.”

\--------------------------------------------------

Zhou Mi rushed into SM headquarters 15 minutes later, impeccably dressed as always. He hurried to the Q observation office and found not only Agents Song and Lee there, but also the Director, his ever-present bodyguards, and Henry.

“Agent Zhou, about time you got here,” the Director complained. “Anyway, now that we’ve gotten rid of that traitor Agent Shim we finally seem to be making some progress. Agent Lee, tell him what you found.”

“Well Agent Song and I were poking around in Agent Shim’s history-”

“That Agent Lee and I managed to recover after he wiped it!” Victoria interrupted. “He was feeding Q information for months!”

“Yeah,” Donghae agreed. “Anyway we noticed a file with lists of numbers and we noticed that the beginnings of the number sequences coincided with the dates that Q has interfered in SM missions.”

“And then I got the idea to check the remaining numbers in each series with the identification numbers of the Agents involved and they aligned perfectly!” Victoria explained.

“All the numbers happened in the past, except for the last one on the list,” Donghae explained. “The last date is for today and the identification number is for Agent Lau.”

“I had already assigned Agent Lau to carry out a mission today before these two managed to find anything,” Director Kim explained. “So for consistency’s sake we’ll keep him on the mission. However, you’ll be accompanying him discreetly to observe.”

“Yes, sir,” Zhou Mi agreed. “I’ll go get my tech from Agent Lee right away.”

\--------------------------------------------------------

Henry crept into the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, his mission was to investigate the Minister for ties to the North and, if necessary, to remove him from his post. Zhou Mi had made the 75 mile drive from Seoul earlier so he was already hidden in the building with observation equipment set up around the Minister’s office. 

He was slightly distracted by the feather duster that kept rubbing his nose. His chosen hiding spot in a janitor’s closet was looking like less and less of a good idea.

Zhou Mi stilled from his flailing as he watched Henry enter the building. He made it to the correct floor without detection. So far so good.

Henry pushed open the door to the Minister’s office and had his gun trained at the man instantly. Zhou Mi’s eyes were practically glued to the screen.

Then, to his confusion, Henry looked straight at the video camera and gave a little wave and a dorky smile. Zhou Mi couldn’t figure out what Henry was up to.

“Minister, I was sent here by the Director of SM Agency,” Henry told the shaking man in the office. “I was ordered to investigate and kill you, but instead I am going to warn you.”

Zhou Mi could only watch in horror as his closest friend, his one-time partner detailed the security measures that the Minister should take to protect himself and his family. Henry was working for Q? Zhou Mi’s mind whirled as he tried to make sense of this development. 

Henry left the office and whispered “Bye for now, gege” into his microphone. Zhou Mi heard it loud and clear. The next moment the line went silent and the video feed shut off.

Zhou Mi sat in shock until he sneezed loudly from the over-affectionate feather duster.

\----------------------------------------------

Director Kim was predictably furious. “What do you mean Henry defected?”

“I mean sir, instead of carrying out the mission as ordered he thwarted it himself!”

“So he’s working for Q?”

“Apparently!” Zhou Mi cried. “I suggest that you investigate all the agents involved in past missions involving Q. They could have easily fabricated the stories about interference while sabotaging themselves.”

“I agree,” Director Kim growled. “But don’t think that this excludes you! You’ve been fairly useless so far, and you were close with Agent Lau. I’d say you’re a pretty suspicious person right now.”

“I’ve done nothing but follow your orders since the day you recruited me!” Zhou Mi protested.

“I don’t know, you’re Chinese so I can’t rely on any loyalty to your country pledges. I’ll have to investigate Agent Song and all those Chinese new recruits too…” the Director mused.

“Just because we’re Chinese doesn’t mean that we’re betraying the Agency!” Zhou Mi insisted.

“Agent Lau wasn’t Korean either!” Director Kim yelled.

“But Agent Shim was!” Zhou Mi retorted.

“That’s besides the point. Agent Zhou, you are hereby to be held in the detention facility until a thorough investigation of your past has been conducted.”

Zhou Mi just ducked his head and went along with the Director’s bodyguards as they dragged him out of the room. Struggling would only further convince them of his guilt.  
\----------------------------------------------

Zhou Mi had been in the small room (thankfully not the cell he had been imagining) for all of 2 hours before the door swung open.

He was instantly on his feet, only to stumble to a halt and ask, “Who are you?”

The young man in the doorway momentarily frowned but within seconds a smile was back on his face. “I’m Kim Joonmyun, a trainee! You can call me Suho though.”

“Alright, nice to meet you Suho,” Zhou Mi said slowly. “But why on earth are you here?”

“Oh!” Suho exclaimed. “Q sent me to get you out!”

“Q sent you to get me out?” Zhou Mi asked skeptically. He ignored Suho’s protest and continued, “And what exactly makes Q think that I want to be out?”

“Well, he was hoping that you would just come with me,” Suho explained. “But I’m afraid you really don’t have a choice in this.”

“No, I’m staying right here until they figure out that I have nothing to do with Q. Getting ‘rescued’ by Q would hardly improve my record.”

Suho shook his head slightly and sighed. “Jino! Jonghyun! Come help!”

“How many contacts does Q have in this place?!” Zhou Mi cried, exasperated as two other people that he assumed were also trainees hurried into the room and shut the door behind them. 

The three boys all grinned in lieu of a response and spread out across from Zhou Mi.

“Get him!” Suho cried and the two others ran forward.

Zhou Mi surged into action and grabbed the short one’s arm as he went for a punch. He spun the boy into the other and they went sprawling onto the floor. Suho shifted in front of the door and managed to land a kick in Zhou Mi’s stomach, but not enough to do more than wind him. Zhou Mi grabbed his leg and gave it a sharp twist, causing Suho to cry out even as Zhou Mi swept his other leg out from under him. 

Zhou Mi caught Suho before he hit the ground and spun around to essentially toss him at Jino and Jonghyun, who had just managed to stand themselves up again. The three went back down and Zhou Mi kicked open the door and ran out into the hallway.

As he shut the door he saw a figure turning the corner and yelled, “Agent Kim! Q’s operatives are trying to kidnap me!”

Ryeowook paused and looked back. “Q’s operatives? Here?” he asked, drawing closer.

“Yes, 3 trainees. I have them shut in there,” Zhou Mi told him and gestured at the door.

“I told him they wouldn’t be able to handle it,” Ryeowook grumbled.

“What?” Zhou Mi gasped just as Ryeowook leaped the remaining distance between them while pulling out a pair of nunchuks. 

Zhou Mi dodged the initial leap, but before he could regroup and move to a more advantageous position the door to the room opened.

“Hyung! We could’ve handled it,” Suho said.

“Sure you were handling it, that’s why you three were in there and he was in the hallway,” Ryeowook shot back. “Q won’t be happy that I had to blow my cover ahead of schedule just for this.”

“Agent Kim, how could you be working for Q? You’ve been working at the Agency for years!” Zhou Mi stalled as his eyes raced around the narrow hallway, trying to find a way out.

Ryeowook’s eyes softened slightly. “You’ll find out soon. You just have to come with us first!” At this he managed to snag Zhou Mi’s right wrist with his nunchucks. As Zhou Mi struggled to free himself he managed to land a punch on the jaw of one of the trainees. The boy fell, but then Suho got his arm into a hold. The other trainee avoided Zhou Mi’s kick and got in close enough to reacquaint his face with the chloroform cloth. Zhou Mi struggled more, but couldn’t help but black out. 

\-----------------------------------------------------

Zhou Mi awoke in the same apartment as last time, but the lights were already on. 

“You gave my cousin a bruise on his face,” Q complained as a greeting from a chair a few feet away. He had traded in the pajamas for some jeans and a large red sweater. Zhou Mi wondered briefly if it was as snuggly as it looked.

“He was trying to kidnap me!” Zhou Mi protested once he registered what Q had said. “On your orders! So really it’s your fault.”

“If you had just been reasonable and come along when Suho was rescuing you we wouldn’t be back in this situation,” Q sighed. Zhou Mi realised that his hands were tied again, and petulantly tested to see if Q was in shin-kicking distance. He wasn’t.

“I was trying to prove that I wasn’t connected to you! Why did you think that I would go along with your little rescue party anyway?” Zhou Mi demanded.

“I had hoped that you would have started wondering why your good friend Henry had joined me and do some digging. I even made sure that he said exactly what I told him to when he tipped off that minister,” Q protested. “You mean you didn’t even think about what he said?”

“I was otherwise occupied! You were trying to free me from being locked up, remember?” 

“I guess,” Q pouted. “Well since you didn’t figure it out I guess I’ll have to do some storytelling. Do you want anything to drink?”

“What? No!”

“Just being courteous,” Q feigned being taken aback. “Anyway, have you ever wondered about why your targets were being targeted.”

“That’s not my job,” Zhou Mi replied slowly.

“But still, haven’t you ever tried to guess?”

“I suppose. I never heard anything, but there must have been a good reason.”

“There is a reason, it’s about as far away from good as you can get though,” Q muttered darkly. “All levity aside, the men and women you have removed from their offices were good people for the most part, and doing their jobs as they should. Sure there were some heavy drinkers or procrastinators among them, but nothing to warrant even being fired, let alone imprisoned or killed.”

“There must be something they did,” Zhou Mi protested.

“I guess you could call it that. What they did wrong was by having their jobs.”

“What are you saying?”

“Did you notice about 3 years ago when Kim Gura became the Director of SM Agency, that your mission profiles changed? That instead of removing threats to Korea instead you were exclusively targeting employees of the Korean government?”

“I did notice that there were more government jobs, but I figured that it was the new Director doing some housekeeping and cleaning out the bad ones?” Zhou Mi suggested, but he started to get a sinking feeling in his chest.

Q held up two sheets of paper. “Here is a list of Kim Gura’s trainee class at SM Agency. This list is of all the new appointments to Korean government positions following SM actions since Kim Gura took over. The lists are nearly identical.”

“Are you trying to insinuate that Director Kim is filling the government with his friends?”

“I wouldn’t necessarily call them friends, more like cronies,” Q stated his voice strangely flat. “They’ve been killing innocent people so they can gain power.”

“No!” Zhou Mi cried. “I’m sure there’s another explanation! Director Kim may not be the nicest person but he wouldn’t go around killing people without reason!”

“How would you know what Kim Gura would or wouldn’t do?” Q yelled, standing. His eyes flickered between pain and anger.

Zhou Mi, surprised at the sudden outburst, remained silent.

“Kim Gura is a monster,” Q whispered. He cleared his throat and met Zhou Mi’s eyes. “Three years ago, SM recruited a promising trainee. Because of his talents, he was called in to meet with Director Kim personally. Director Kim wanted to make this trainee a special operative, so he decided to test the trainee.”

Q took a breath. He continued after a moment in a shaky voice, “Director Kim brought in a criminal for the trainee to kill, to prove his conviction. The Director knew full well that the criminal was the uncle of the trainee, but he made a mistake. He didn’t know that the details of the crime the uncle supposedly committed conflicted with a family event that both the trainee and the uncle had attended.”

Zhou Mi gasped slightly when Q’s eyes started to tear up. “The trainee protested that it must be a mistake, they should let his uncle go free. Kim Gura told the trainee that he was weak and decided to demonstrate how to actually execute an ‘enemy of the state.’ The trainee managed to get between his uncle and the bullets. He was shot 12 times, but the 13th bullet managed to get by him.”

Q was openly crying now. “He stopped 12 of them, but one was all it took to kill his uncle. Director Kim left them for dead and ordered them discarded, but one of his bodyguards realised that the trainee was still alive, if only barely. She managed to smuggle him out and he slowly healed and came back with a purpose in life. Kim Gura had to be stopped.”

“You were the trainee,” Zhou Mi breathed. “But how do I know that you’re not just acting?”

Q yanked his sweater up and Zhou Mi’s eyes flew over the skinny torso. 12 round red scars dotted the pale skin, all the way from his hipbones to his collarbone. 

Q spat out, “I’m going to let you go. When you get out, look up the name Cho Kyuhyun in SM’s database. It will say that he was a promising trainee that was killed in a training accident. Never mind that there is no record of any accident having occurred.”

“You’re going to let me go?” Zhou Mi asked, not sure what else he could say to the man in front of him.

Kyuhyun replaced his sweater and turned his back on Zhou Mi. “It wouldn’t help me to keep you here. As soon as you get yourself out you are free to go. Don’t bother trying to find me, but do think about exactly what your opinion of SM is.”

“Wait,” Zhou Mi called out, not entirely sure what he was going to say. It didn’t matter, because Kyuhyun walked away and out of the apartment. 

Zhou Mi broke out of his restraints a moment later, but he remained in his seat for several hours later, thinking through what Kyuhyun had just told him. If it was true, Zhou Mi had been responsible for the deaths of 14 innocent people, and the imprisonment of many more besides. 

Zhou Mi remembered each and every face of the people he had killed, and he came to a decision. Before he wallowed in self-pity anymore he had to verify Kyuhyun’s story. The only place he could do that was at SM headquarters, but Zhou Mi had a feeling that he wouldn’t be the most welcome arrival given his previous imprisonment.

Zhou Mi left the apartment and discovered that he was only a subway stop away from his apartment. He decided to return there and strategize before trying to sneak into one of the most heavily protected buildings in Korea.

\---------------------------------------------------

Zhou Mi arrived at SM well before the sun rose, so as to encounter the minimum number of people. He hadn’t slept since his capture by Q, spending all of the night before diagramming the building and the locations of cameras.

He knew that it would be impossible to avoid being picked up by all cameras, he had seen the surveillance room and every square inch of the building was on screens. However, those screens were watched over by only two people, and two people could be easily distracted.

Zhou Mi dug out all the firecrackers that he hadn’t had the time to use on Chinese New Year. All he had to do was avoid detection long enough to plant them far away from his target: the office where Victoria and Donghae observed Q.

Zhou Mi briefly considered attempting to go in through the air ducts, but dismissed that option due to his height. He instead managed to climb up to the 3rd floor where surveillance was less tight and shimmied in through a bathroom window with a broken lock.

Once he was inside he quickly but calmly made his way to the cafeteria. No one would likely be eating now, and it was on the opposite side of the building from his target. By pretending like he belonged, Zhou Mi knew that he was attracting much less attention than if he had attempted to sneak through the hallways.

The cafeteria lights automatically flickered on when Zhou Mi walked in. He hid the firecrackers under a few of the tables and lit the long length of fuse that he had rigged. With all that achieved he headed to the center of the building and waited.

Several minutes later loud bangs rang out through the Agency. People began running towards the cafeteria, so Zhou Mi made sure that he hid whenever someone got close. He now had a brief window of time to do his research before the agents would return to their business.

He chose to go to the office where Victoria and Donghae worked because his fingerprints were already all over those computers so it would be slightly more difficult to figure out that he had been there. 

He closed and locked the door behind him and didn’t waste a second more as he booted up the computer. Luckily for him they hadn’t yet changed the access passwords.

He went to SM’s personnel database and searched the name ‘Cho Kyuhyun’.

Zhou Mi froze. There was even a picture attached. The person in the picture was undeniably Q, although it was from several years before and it looked like he got his eyelids done since then. 

Shaking slightly, Zhou Mi opened up the file to read the details. It read almost word for word what Kyuhyun had told him. Promising trainee killed in a training accident.

Zhou Mi’s mind raced. If this was true then it probably meant that all the rest was as well. Zhou Mi was a murderer. 

“Agent Zhou?” Victoria asked from right behind his shoulder.

Zhou Mi cursed and spun around, expecting her to be holding a gun to him. She held her empty hands up in a placating gesture. “I was told not to be surprised if you showed up.”

“The Director was expecting me to come back?” Zhou Mi questioned sharply.

But Victoria had shifted her attention to the screen behind him. “Is that Q?” she asked in a small voice. “Why is he in SM’s database?”

Multiple realizations swept through Zhou Mi all at once. Obviously, the first was that Victoria was working for Kyuhyun. That meant that she, and possibly Donghae as well, had set up the situation with Henry. But the one that left the biggest impact on Zhou Mi was that Kyuhyun hadn’t told her about his past. He recalled Kyuhyun saying that he hadn’t even met with the other agents assigned to catch him. For some reason he had singled out Zhou Mi to reveal his past. But Zhou Mi had no idea why.

“Listen, Zhou Mi, you might want to leave now,” Victoria stated seriously, dropping his title.

“Why?”

“Let’s just say that SM is going to be under new management very, very soon.”

\--------------------------------------------------------

Despite Victoria’s protests, Zhou Mi managed to convince her to let him tag along. Now that he knew the truth his brain was a chaotic mess. He had temporarily pushed aside all the crippling guilt and sadness so that only the desire for justice filled him.

James Bond was the good guy, and all Zhou Mi’s life he had been dreaming to be just like the quintessential spy. Kim Gura had taken that away from him and turned him into someone who murdered innocent people. He had to be stopped before he could hurt anyone else. 

“We’re staging a coup,” Victoria told him over her shoulder as they ran down a hallway. “We don’t need to be stealthy because Hyukjae and Shindong in the surveillance room are with us.”

“Who else?” Zhou Mi asked while they skidded around a corner.

“Sungmin, Donghae, Minho, Jessica, Seohyun, Sooyoung and Sunny from mobile support, Yoona from reception...basically slightly over half the Agency Q has managed to show the truth. We’re on a very tight schedule so we have to be in place because we’re going to act all at once. Hopefully that way we’ll be able to minimise casualties. We don’t want to actually hurt anyone; they aren’t bad people they’ve just been misguided by Kim Gura.”

“Are the others I met coming in?”

“Mostly not. Changmin will be running technical support from the outside to make sure that no one can interfere. The trainees we inserted will go back into the training center to explain and keep the peace. But Ryeowook, Henry, and Lee Jonghyun will be in charge of getting Q into the building and to Kim Gura’s office.”

“What’s Q going to do when he gets there?” Zhou Mi adjusted his grip on the standard-issue Daewoo pistol Victoria had given him. His poor Walther was in a storage locker somewhere but they didn’t have time to retrieve it. 

Victoria paused as she typed in a code to a number-pad. “He hasn’t told anyone,” she muttered. The pad beeped and the door swung open. “But he’s going to stop Kim Gura from being the Director any more and that’s what matters.”

Victoria suddenly turned and using her famous grace, bred from years of classical dance training, reversed their positions and pushed him inside the room.

“Hey!” Zhou Mi protested.

“You’ll only be in the way at the moment! You haven’t been drilling with us,” she explained. “Besides, I’m leaving you here in the surveillance room. That way if you see an issue you can go help. Hyukjae, Shindong, keep him here until the plan starts.”

Zhou Mi protested again but Shindong came over and pulled him to a seat in front of the screens.

Hyukjae wheeled his chair closer and asked, “So how did you get in? We didn’t know you were here until the fireworks started going off.”

“That’s what you’re focusing on right now?” Zhou Mi asked incredulously.

“There’s nothing else for us to do for the next 3 minutes,” Shindong shrugged. “We can do whatever we want.”

“And we want to know how you got passed us!” Hyukjae emphasised with a wide smile.

“3rd floor bathroom window, then I just walked down the hall like I belonged,” Zhou Mi sighed.

Shindong and Hyukjae started bickering about the others’ observation prowess but Zhou Mi drowned them out to focus on the wall of screens in front of them. 

In each view there were at least two people, and from those that Victoria had mentioned Zhou Mi guessed that at least one person working with Q was stationed near every person who wasn’t.

“Oh! It’s time!” Hyukjae exclaimed as his watch chirped. 

Every screen filled with motion as Q’s allies sprung into action.  
A moment later most of the screens were still with only a few groups still wrestling for control of weapons or communication devices.

Shindong swore loudly. “Whose idea was it to have Luna go up alone against Heechul? That guy has the fastest draw in the Agency! We should’ve at least sent Jay or Jungmo as well, he has soft spots for them.”

“Heechul? Is he outside Gura’s office?” Zhou Mi demanded. 

Hyukjae looked at the screen where Heechul had a gun trained on Luna. “Yeah, and he looks angry.”

“I’ll go right away!” Zhou Mi called, already moving towards the door.

“What makes you think you can help?” Shindong called after him.

“Jay and Jungmo aren’t the only ones he has a soft spot for!” Zhou Mi answered, but he was far enough away by now that he couldn’t be sure that they heard him.

He took the stairs three at a time and within a minute was outside the door leading to the office where Heechul, as Kim Gura’s personal assistant and right hand, worked. 

He pushed open the door slowly, and cautious not to make any sudden moves, edged into the room. Heechul already had another gun on him, but he lowered it slightly once he saw it was Zhou Mi.

“Seasoning, this little punk tried to draw on me!” Heechul waved at Luna kneeling silently in the corner.

“Heechul-hyung, why don’t you put the guns down and we’ll just talk,” Zhou Mi placated. He took a step forward only to have Heechul bring the second gun back up.

“You’re working with her,” Heechul accused with narrowed eyes.

“Yes, but it’s not what you think,” Zhou Mi explained. “We’re trying to save the Agency from Kim Gura.”

“What are you rambling about,” Heechul demanded.

“Ever since he became Director, Gura has been having agents kill innocent people so his friends can take their government positions.”

“What proof do you have?” Heechul asked, but he lowered the guns a fraction. Zhou Mi launched into a full explanation. He knew that if anyone could convince Heechul it was him. Ever since Zhou Mi’s trainee days Heechul had a soft spot for him. He had cared for Heechul when the other had been injured on a job and retired from field duty, and the older man didn’t forget favors.

By the time Zhou Mi had finished his explanation, Heechul had completely lowered his guns, although he still had a tight grip on them. He appeared to be lost in thought.

Just then the door burst open and Heechul spun around to raise his guns again.

Henry and Ryeowook had their guns equally trained on Heechul as Kyuhyun walked in and Lee Jonghyun brought up the rear. 

“Is that Q” Heechul demanded. It provided just enough distraction for Luna, who had been silent the entire time, to move forward and disarm Heechul. He whirled on her but Henry and Ryeowook surged forward to hold him down. 

Zhou Mi was also staring at Kyuhyun in disbelief, but for different reasons. Unlike the other times Zhou Mi had met him, this time Kyuhyun was wearing a neatly tailored black suit. His hair was combed out of his face and he was carrying a small pistol. He radiated power and deadliness.

This was completely different from the James Bond fanboy in the pajamas. And Zhou Mi couldn’t help but notice how much more attractive he seemed, but he quickly tamped down that thought in light of the situation.

“Kim Gura hasn’t left his office?” Kyuhyun asked Luna, his eyes sliding over Zhou Mi and briefly flickering in surprise before settling back into blankness.

“He is still in there, sir,” Luna confirmed. 

“Jonghyun, follow me. You too, if you want,” Kyuhyun ordered and it took Zhou Mi a moment to realise that the second part was addressed to him. He paused only a moment before falling into step behind Jonghyun. Kyuhyun was about to do something extremely important and personal, and he had asked Zhou Mi to be there. Zhou Mi still wanted to know why, but he also wanted to lend his support to the young man who had suffered so much at the hands of Kim Gura.

\-----------------------------------------------

The three of them entered into Kim Gura’s office. Zhou Mi was surprised at what he saw, but neither Kyuhyun nor Jonghyun seemed phased.

Kim Gura was seated at his desk, his mouth slightly bloodied. On either side of him were his two female bodyguards, each with a gun pressed against his head.

“Misun-noona, Yeongja-noona, thank you. That will be all,” Kyuhyun told them and the two older women nodded and stepped back. 

They walked towards the door, both pausing a moment by Kyuhyun. The larger one, Yeongja as Zhou Mi recalled, laid a hand on Kyuhyun’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze before she left. Misun looked into Kyuhyun’s eyes and whispered, “Do the right thing.” Kyuhyun nodded at her and she gave him a motherly smile as she walked out. Jonghyun silently followed them, closing the door behind him.

Kim Gura, in the meantime, was spluttering incoherently.

“YOU!” he shouted when he finally found his voice. “You’re supposed to be dead!”

“Through no fault of your own, you were very thorough,” Kyuhyun replied deadpan. “But we are here to end your misuse of the position of Director of SM Agency.”

Gura chuckled darkly, causing both Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi to shift in surprise.

“You may be coming in here all collected and bent on revenge but I can see right through you,” Gura said triumphantly with a smirk. “You may have all these other people convinced but I can see that you haven’t changed a bit. You’re still that same kid from all those years ago that may have the best accuracy and the best brain SM’s ever seen, but you still can’t pull a trigger on a person.”

“How do you know?” Kyuhyun demanded, voice quavering slightly as he lifted his gun to point between Gura’s eyes. “You were trying to get me to shoot my uncle. Rest assured that I have no similarly loving feelings towards you.”

“Even if I had brought in a real criminal you wouldn’t have pulled that trigger. I knew you were weak inside from the moment I met you. You didn’t shoot then and you won’t shoot now.”

“Kyuhyun,” Zhou Mi stepped forward slightly. He could see the effect that Gura’s words were having on the conviction of the boy. “Don’t let him get to you.”

This only served to shift Gura’s attention to Zhou Mi. “And what do we have here? Why would you pick someone like him to witness your failure? Or maybe you were trying to impress him?”

“That’s not it!” Kyuhyun shouted. “But this isn’t about him. This is about you.”

“So what if I used my position for personal gain. People throughout history have done it a million times before, and will do it a million times again,” Gura stated.

“But not many people kill innocents to do so,” Kyuhyun demanded.

“Well, if you’re so convinced that I’m a horrible person, go ahead and shoot me. Eh? Can’t you do it?” Gura challenged, smirk firmly in place.

Kyuhyun’s hands tightened on the gun and he moved his finger to the trigger. He paused, finger tightening and releasing several times. 

“There, I knew you were weak,” Gura said satisfied. “And now your airhead boytoy knows it too.”

“Don’t call him that!” Kyuhyun shouted and moved to right in front of the desk. He pressed the barrel of the gun to Gura’s forehead and twitched his finger on the trigger again.

“Kyuhyun,” Zhou Mi said, stepping forward. “You don’t have to kill him.”

“Don’t listen to him, of course you have to kill me,” Gura exclaimed, glaring up at Kyuhyun. “How would you ever be able to walk out of here with any ounce of pride if you don’t?”

“Remember what Misun said, ‘Do the right thing,’” Zhou Mi prompted, ignoring Gura’s words in favor of making eye contact with Kyuhyun. “What he did with you and your uncle, and all those other innocent people was wrong. You don’t have to follow his example.”

Zhou Mi finally began to understand why Kyuhyun had wanted him here. He knew that he would need help to stand up to Gura’s sharp tongue, and for some reason he picked Zhou Mi. Although he couldn’t figure out what Kyuhyun saw in him that was so important, Zhou Mi knew that he had to try and help the damaged boy as much as he could.

Kyuhyun started shaking. He squeezed his eyes shut and yelled, only to bring his arm up and swing the gun into Gura’s temple, knocking the older man out.

\-----------------------------------------------

“Did you hear the news?” Henry asked Zhou Mi excitedly. “Gura’s been sentenced to life imprisonment!”

“Really? About time,” Zhou Mi grumbled. “The trials started over a year ago.”

“Hey, does Kyuhyun-hyung know yet?” Henry asked.

Zhou Mi excused himself without answering. He walked straight to the roof of the SM Agency building.

“I suppose you heard?” he asked the lone figure standing at the edge.

“I did the right thing, didn’t I?” Kyuhyun asked in lieu of an answer. He didn’t turn around.

Zhou Mi came up behind him and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Yes you did. Yeongja-noona is a great new director. And we never would have found out the full extent of Gura’s crimes if you had killed him then.”

“I just can’t help feel like I dishonored my uncle’s memory,” Kyuhyun sighed, finally turning to look at Zhou Mi.

“I think he would be proud that you have singlehandedly reformed Korea’s intelligence services. You weren’t cut out for field duty. You’re too sweet.”

“Only you can say that,” Kyuhyun grumbled, but leaned into Zhou Mi’s shoulder.

“I know,” Zhou Mi replied and looked out over the edge with Kyuhyun. It was still a long way off, but every day brought Kyuhyun closer to peace and Zhou Mi could only help as much as he could in that process.


End file.
